Identification piece



March 12, 1968 G. B. CLAUIZDE 3,372,500

I IDENTIFICATION l mcfi Filed Oct. 21, 1965 United States Patent Office 3,3725% Patented Mar. 12, 1968 3,372,500 IDENTEFICATEON PIECE Georges Bernard Claude, Rue du Progres 59, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchatel, Switzerland Filed Oct. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 499,679 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Apr. 8, 1965,

4,913/ 65, 4,919/65 3 Claims. (Cl. 40-21) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure relates to a wrist-band comprising a thin flexible support having a plurality of flat links slidably mounted thereon. The fiat links carry suitable indicia. End links retain the fiat links and provide for coupling to form a closed band.

This invention relates to identification pieces and more particularly to such carrying personal indications and informing the medical staif required to attend its owner in case of emergency about vital particulars.

When a person is found in a state of partial or total unconsciousness, for instance after an accident, an indisposition, a syncope or an attack of any sort, the physicians notoriously know that numerous standard treatments undertaken in the absence of indications about the general physical condition of that person, previous treatments and some pathological antecedents can be deadly. A fatal issue must also be feared if such a person is abruptly no longer treated in accordance with a disease from which he suffers.

Different means have already been suggested to ward Oii these dangers. A medal has thus been created. That medal is broadly known by a great deal of the medical staffs. It merely carries the aesculapius mark in a conventional presentation. For the well-informed physicians who notice the presence of that medal on an unconscious patient, it means that they are faced with a pathological case to be cleared up immediately and even before intervening.

The known medal does, however, not give any information about the nature of the pathological case, so that its eflicacy substantially depends on the rapidity with which its owner can be identified. In some instances, this identification time can, however, annihilate the efiicacy of the known medal.

Another known means consists of a card on which one can write, in addition to the usual civil status of the owner, all the indications about him which can be of interest for a physician who would have to interveneemergently: blood group, Rh factor, serums and vaccines which have already been inoculated with corresponding dates, diseases with every indication about the treatments in course, allergies, name and address of the practicing doctor. This means does, however, not warrant that it will be found at the decisivve moment. The owner can inadvertently leave his card at home or disregard taking it along on a run, a trip, an excursion or simply a bath, He can also be separated from his card by the accident; during the accident the identification card can even be lost or destroyed.

One also knows of course the identification disks of the military. These disks have, however, never been used in an attempt of giving the doctors required to attend their owners emergently a vital information about them. These disks have, moreover, neither the sizes nor a nature which would make them convenient for being carried permanently by individuals who must be attended with a critical care in case of an accident, an indisposition, a syncope or any other attack after which they are unconscious.

It is therefore an object of this invention to create an identification piece carrying personal indications and reliably informing the medical staff required to attend its owner in case of emergency about vital particulars, said identification piece offering the best possible chances to be found on its owner when necessary, and having, moreover, such a form that its owner does not in the least feel ashamed to carry it.

It is a more particular object of the invention to create an identification piece in the form of a wrist-band comprising individually removable members, each of said removable members having a surface portion of sufiicient extent to receive at least one of said personal indications.

The idea of making an identification piece in the form of a wrist-band is, as a matter of fact, already known. The wrist-bands serving as identification pieces could, however, not fulfill the requirements of the identification piece contemplated here, because they do not comprise removable members. All the indications appearing on the known wrist-bands are provided on one and the same piece which, moreover, forms an integral part of the wristband. In order to use such a wrist-band as an identification-piece in the sense contemplated here, one would have to engrave numerous indications particularly for every individual, thus substantially increasing the costs of the wrist-band. Moreover, with a gold-plated wrist-band for instance, the surface coating Would have to be restored after engraving. The later addition of a further indication would, for the same reason, raise new diificulties. Eventually, deleting some indication as could be required, for instance when a medical treatment has ended, would also raise problems which would not be easy to solve in practice. It is also an object of the invention to create a nonstretchable wrist-band with links and a closing device with a nice appearance and whereby the links can be easily replaced.-

Still a more particular object of the invention consists of a wrist-band having a band comprising a thin support means longitudinally extending from one end of the band to the other end thereof, a plurality of fiat links merely slipped after one another on said support means at one end of the band, one of said end pieces at least being removably secured to said support means so as to retain said links in abutting engagement with each other and one of said end pieces at least forming at least a part of a closing device of the wrist-band.

Still further objects of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following description.

One embodiment of the identification piece according to the invention is represented diagrammatically and by way of example in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of that embodiment and FIG. 2 is a EIQI.

The identification piece represented in the drawings conslsts of a wrist-band comprising a plurality of links 1 and a closing device made in three pieces 2, 3, 4. All the links 1 have the same shape; they are flat and parallelepipedal. Substantially at the same distance from its lower surface and from its upper surface, i.e., in the axis of the wristband, every link 1 is provided with an openpart sectional view along line IIII of ing extending throughout the link in direction of the wrist-band, so that links 1 can be slipped on a thin flexible but nonstretchable strip having a width somewhat smaller than that of the wrist-band. Strip 5 can be a spring leaf of stainless steel or a plastic ribbon. If the wrist-band is a mere bracelet, strip 5 extends over the whole length of the bracelet and its ends are secured the first one to piece 2 and the second one to piece 3 of the closing device of the bracelet. If the wrist-band is on the contrary a wrist-watch strap, it comprises two bands the first one extending from one pair of attaching lugs of the watch to one piece of the closing device and the other one extending from the second pair of attaching lugs of the watch to the other piece of the closing device.

Each one of the pieces 2 and 3 comprises a body member 6, 7 provided with an opening similar to that of links 1, and which can be engaged by one end portion of strip 5. Pieces 2 and 3 of the closing device are removably secured to the ends of strip 5 by screws 8, screwed in the body members 6, 7 and extending through corresponding bores 9 (FIG. 2) of strip 5.

To enable an adjustment of the length of the wristband, strip 5 is made long enough in order to surround the largest arms. Moreover, a plurality of pairs of bores 9 spaces apart from each other are provided along strip 5 (FIG. 2) at least at one end thereof, so that some portion of strip 5 can be cut or broken away to adjust the wrist-band length to the arm of its owner. The distance from one pair of bores 9 to the next one is of course chosen according to the sizes of links 1, so that pieces 2 and 3 of the closing device will keep links 1 on strip 5 in abutting engagement with each other, i.e., Without leaving a free space between adjacent links, when pieces 2 and 3 are secured to strip 5 after having adjusted the length thereof to the arm of the wrist-band owner.

To close and open the wrist-band at will, piece 2 comprises a plate 10 made integral with the body member 6 and this plate carries transverse projections 11. Piece 3 similarly comprises a plate 12 made integral with the body member 7 and being provided with transverse slots 13 adapted to projections 11 so that the latter can freely enter slots 13. Piece 4 of the closing device is finally mounted on plate 10 by means of a hinge 14 provided along one edge of plate 10 so as to constitute a jointed cover. Piece 4 moreover carries an anchoring projection 15, which can be snap-fitted onto the edge of plate 10 opposed to hinge 14 as well as a releasing projection 16 in order to render more easy opening the wrist-band.

To close the wrist-band, plate 12 is set on plate 10, so that projections 11 enter slots 13. Piece 4 is then rocked down over plate 12 and snap-fitted to plate 10. When the wrist-band is closed, its closing device is flush with links 1, so as to give the wrist-band a nice appearance.

It appears from the above-standing description that any link 1 can at every time be replaced by another link without any difiiculty. For this purpose the screws 8 of one of pieces 2 or 3 of the closing device are unscrewed and this piece removed from strip 5. Links 1 thus constitute individually removable members.

The inner surface of every link, i.e., the surface lying on the arm of its owner, has obviously a sufficient extent in order to enable engraving thereon at least one indication relating to either a blood group, a serum, a vaccine, a disease, a medical treatment or an allergy as diagrammatically shown at 17 (FIG. 1).

The following table relates to two individuals which are supposd to be or to have been treated in some manner and which are afiiicted by some illness. About these two individuals the table contains all the vital indications which a medical stafi required to attend these individuals in case of emergency must know how to avoid a prejudicial intervention. Every field of the table cor responds to one removable member of the wrist-band.

Blood group Blood group Rh+ Rh- Serums Serums Against Diphtheria 10.3.59 Against Tetanus 14.9.61

Vaccines Against smallpox 5.48

Vaccines Against smallpox 12.60

These two examples illustrate the nature of the information which it is contemplated to give here. They show, moreover, that the information given by the wristband specifically characterizes the anamnesis of one individual although each indication has a universal character. The identification piece according to the invention thus can be established from a plurality of single indications each having a universal character by combining these indications to a highly specified piece of information. As a consequence thereof, there are few indications to be specifically engraved for one individual and these particular indications are, moreover, very short. They consist of the dates. All the other indications can be produced on an industrial scale thus permitting the immediate establishment, for any individual, of a quite complete identification piece at a price which does not substantially different from that of the blank wrist-band.

Since the members carrying the indications 17 are removable, the identification piece according to the invention can easily be kept up-to-date all the time by replacing blank links by links with newly required indications or by replacing links with indications becoming out-of-date by blank links.

The identification piece according to the invention can of course also contain coded indications relating to an illness which its owner will reveal only to doctors strongly bound by the professional secret or to an illness which the practising doctor will not reveal to his patient.

An administrative number can also be provided on a particular member of the wrist-band, said number referring to a card of a central station open night and day where doctors can obtain an additional information about the identification piece owner which could not be put or which it was not desired to put on the identification piece itself.

Although only medical indications have been evoked hereabove, indications about the civil status of the identification piece owner can of course also be engraved on the lower face of some links 1.

It results from the previous description that the whole information given by the identification piece according to the invention normally remains cautiously hidden. In order that this information does not escape notice of the medical staff for whom it has been intended a conventional reminding mark 18, well known by the physicians, can be provided on the visible surface of the cover member 4 of the closing device.

The identification piece according to the invention can be, as already indicated, either a mere bracelet or a wristwatch strap. In the last case the closing device could be dispensed with and the strap could comprise a single band having one end at least which would be removably anchored to one pair of lugs of the watchcase to enable opening and closing the wrist-band to a wrist-watch strap,

the identification piece according to the invention could also comprise two bands each having one end anchored to the watchcase and a part of a closing device, such as piece 2 or 3, at the other end. For anchoring the bands to the Watchcase, an end-piece could be fixed at the end of the strip carrying the removable links 1 in the same manner as pieces 2 and 3 are fixed to strip 5. These endpieces could moreover be arranged so that they could be anchored to the usual bars fixed to the watchcase lugs. Alternatively, these end-pieces could be fixed, for instance by welding, directly to the watchcase as more and more practicized with metallic wrist-bands.

In the case of a wrist-watch strap having two bands, adjusting the strap length to the arm of its owner would already be ensured, if only one of the two end-pieces provided for attaching the strap to the watchcase were removably fixed to the corresponding strip carrying the links 1.

The means provided for supporting the removable links need not necessarily be a strip, a leaf or a ribbon. A couple of threads could also be used as a support means. In this case each link 1 would be provided with two bores instead of the opening disclosed hereabove. To be able to assemble the removable links on their support means it suffices quite generally that the cross-sectional shape of the link opening corresponds to that of the support means so as to prevent the links 1 from sliding in the transverse direction when the wrist-band has been assembled. I

The links 1 can either be made of a base metal and then treated for instance by coating and by ornamenting or of a noble metal. They could also be made of another material for instance a plastic.

It will finally be observed that the removable members of the wrist-band constituting the identification piece according to the invention need not be the links themselves; they could consist either of link parts or, on the contrary, of a group of links. With about twenty such removable members on a wrist-band it is already possible to give a complete information in the most intricate cases. The removable members of the identification piece according to the invention can even be mounted in such manner that they will necessarily be impaired and irremediably lost upon removing the same. It suffices that they can be removed without injuring the remaining parts of the wristband, and then be replaced by a new member, this new member either carrying an indication or being a blank as may be, and being available without difliculty and at a low price.

Various further changes in the shape, sizes and arrangement of parts will still appear obvious to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing the advantages thereof.

I claim:

1. An identification piece comprising a thin flexible band portion, a plurality of links independently slidably and removably secured to said band portion, each of said links having a relatively flat outer surface for the acceptance of identification indicia, a pair of end pieces on band portion at opposite ends thereof, one of said end pieces being removably secured to said band portion so as to retain said links thereon yet accommodate removal of said links, and means for joining opposite ends of said band portion to one another to form a wrist-band, said flexible band portion being provided with bores at its ends, and screws engaging said bores and passing through said band portion and securing said end-pieces thereto.

2. A wrist-band according to claim 1, wherein said band portion has at least one end provided with a plurality of bores spaced apart from each other along said strip.

3. A wrist-band according to claim 1, including a clos ing device comprising a first plate forming part of one of said end-pieces and carrying at least one projection, a second plate forming part of another of said end-pieces and provided with at least one opening, a projection of said first plate corresponding to an opening of said second plate so as to fit each other upon setting said first and said second plate on one another, one of said plates forming part of the inner surface of the wrist-band, and a jointed cover means carried by the plate forming part of the inner surface of the wrist-band, said cover means locking said two plates onto one another.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 331,033 11/1885 Chadwick 63-4X 1,166,629 1/1916 Pratt -21 1,169,999 2/1916 Richards 40-21 1,694,703 12/ 1928 Doppenschmitt 6311 FOREIGN PATENTS 279,405 3/ 1952 Switzerland.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. W. J. CONTRERAS, Examiner. 

